Radio România Internațional

Tag: corruption

  • February 26, 2025

    February 26, 2025

     

    TALKS Romania’s interim president Ilie Bolojan is holding consultations today with each parliamentary party, regarding Romania’s position at the extraordinary European Council due at the beginning of next month. In this complicated and dynamic context with changes at international level, Romania may have to adjust its foreign policy to the new challenges, Ilie Bolojan explained in a video message. “However, there are things that will not change, namely Romania’s national interests, a safe country, a prosperous country, a trustworthy country, at peace with its neighbours,” the interim president explained. “We are a safe country because we benefit from solid defence guarantees. We owe our security and that of Europe to the NATO shield and the guarantees entailed by the Strategic Partnership with the US. The presence of US and Allied troops on Romanian territory has done nothing but strengthen the security of Europe, and we will advocate for them to stay. The EU membership has ensured our progress as a country during these years. European investments and funds, access to markets and opportunities have generated prosperity and better living conditions. It is a path we must continue on”, Ilie Bolojan added. Also today, the interim president takes part in a conference call with the leaders of EU member countries, during which the French president Emmanuel Macron presents updates on his recent meeting with the US president Donald Trump.

     

    PARLIAMENT A no-confidence motion tabled by the self-styled sovereigntist opposition against the Romanian government is to be discussed and voted on this Friday. The signatories say that the current Cabinet is illegitimate, has lost its credibility as some of its members are linked to individuals involved in a high-profile criminal case, and is failing to implement its own governing program, in which it promised, among other things, an increase in pensions and allowances. Also in opposition, the declared pro-European USR announced that it would not back the motion. The ruling coalition comprising the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania say Romania needs serious solutions, not image strategies.

     

    UKRAINE Kyiv announced an agreement was reached with Washington on the joint development of Ukrainian mineral resources and the reconstruction of the country after the invasion launched by Russia 3 years ago. The deal, about which few details are known, could be signed in Washington this Friday. The arrangement was agreed after the US president Donald Trump demanded access to key Ukrainian minerals as compensation for the aid given to Ukraine in the war with Russia. Official sources quoted by Western media say that Washington has given up initial demands of USD 500 billion in revenues from natural resources, but has not provided the firm security guarantees demanded in exchange by Ukraine, which would be negotiated at a later date.

     

    VATICAN Pope Francis, 88, still in critical condition with double pneumonia, “spent a quiet night and is resting,” the Vatican said on Wednesday morning, the 13th day of his hospitalisation. According to the latest updates released on Tuesday evening, his condition is stable. The hospitalisation, the 4th and longest since the beginning of his term in 2013, raises serious concerns as Pope Francis is already weakened after a string of health problems in recent years, from colon and abdominal surgeries to difficulties walking.

     

    INVESTIGATION The former presidential candidate Călin Georgescu, a pro-Russian extremist, was taken in for questioning under a warrant by the General Prosecutor’s Office, judicial sources told AGERPRES. On Wednesday morning, prosecutors conducted dozens of searches across five counties, in a case related to the financing of his election campaign, the establishment of a fascist, racist or xenophobic organisation, as well as to promoting a cult of individuals guilty of genocide. Targeted by the investigation is also a close associate of Georgescu, Horaţiu Potra, the leader of a mercenary group that operated in Africa. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, investigations are conducted in this case for offences including actions against the constitutional order, failure to comply with the weapons and ammunition legislation, unlawful operations with pyrotechnic materials, public incitement, initiating or forming an organisation of a fascist, racist or xenophobic nature, as well as joining or otherwise supporting such a group. Investigations are also conducted for the public promotion of the cult of persons guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as the public dissemination of fascist, extreme right, racist or xenophobic ideas, views or doctrines.

     

    CORRUPTION Twenty individuals have been detained over bribery charges in an investigation into illicit activity in the Port of Constanta (south-eastern Romania). Among others, the head of the Constanta branch of the Social Democratic Party, Ion Dumitrache, and several officers for the Maritime Ports Administration were detained. According to Anticorruption prosecutors, in 2024 and 2025 several businessmen allegedly promised and gave public officials bribes ranging from EUR 2,000 to 100,000, as well as other goods, to help them develop their businesses in the Constanta Port area, by speeding up asset transfer procedures, extending a waste collection contract, winning tenders or ensuring exclusive access to certain berths. The businessmen in question have allegedly promised an estimated EUR 6 million in bribes. The Bucharest Court dismissed prosecutor’s request for pre-trial arrest of 7 of the defendants, placing them under court supervision instead. Similar requests for another 13 defendants are yet to be heard.

     

    EDUCATION The Romanian education minister Daniel David has encouraged all stakeholders’ involvement in the development of high school framework plans. In a fresh roundtable on the topic held in Iași (northeast), the minister promised that proposals would be taken into account, and the documents may be amended, as has already happened following discussions and meetings in recent weeks, since the projects were submitted for public review. He warned that high school curricula are of critical importance, given the high level of functional illiteracy in various fields. David explained that, after this construction period, the high school curricula will be tested in various schools. The public review period ends next week, on March 6, and the final documents are to be presented in early May. (AMP)

  • February 22, 2025

    February 22, 2025

     

    ELECTIONS The Central Electoral Bureau for the election of the president of Romania in May was selected on Friday. The Bureau is made up of 5 judges with the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the president and vice-presidents of the Permanent Electoral Authority and one representative of each party in Parliament. Parties, political or electoral alliances, ethnic minority organisations and independent candidates will be able to submit their candidacies by March 15, after which the Central Electoral Bureau is to rule on their validity. Thousands of Romanians, supporters of the independent sovereigntist Călin Georgescu, who came out first in the first election round in December, took to the streets again in Bucharest today to demand that the electoral process be resumed from where it was canceled. The billionaire Elon Musk, an advisor to the US president Donald Trump, Friday night posted a critical message on his social network X (the third this week) about the cancellation of the December elections. The US vice-president J.D. Vance had also previously questioned the cancellation of the elections. Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said Bucharest would try to provide clarifications about the situation through all diplomatic channels.

     

    RATING Fitch has sent a clear signal that Romania must carry on its fiscal consolidation measures and restore budgetary balance, in order to improve its fiscal credibility, said finance minister Tanczos Barna after the international financial rating agency announced on Friday that it is keeping Romania in the investment grade category. In a statement, the agency confirmed Romania’s long-term rating at ‘BBB minus’, with a negative outlook. According to Fitch, the rating relies on the country’s EU membership and capital inflows that contribute to public revenues and macro-stability. The gross domestic product per capita and the governance and human development indicators are also higher than in countries in the same rating category, the agency explains. These strengths are overshadowed, however, by a significant deterioration of public finances and a sharp slowdown in economic growth in 2024. Adding to this is a possible adverse effect of political uncertainty. In December last year, Fitch announced that it had downgraded the outlook assigned to Romania from stable to negative. The same announcement came later from Standard & Poor’s.

     

    ENERGY Electricity and natural gas tariffs could be offset in Romania even after April 1, when the current aid scheme is set to expire. The energy ministry has posted for public review a draft act extending the capping period, under which the scheme for electricity is extended until July 1, and for natural gas by one year, until April 1, 2026. The capping extension proposal comes as prices on European electricity and gas exchanges have increased significantly, and also as the low temperatures in Romania this winter entailed a significant increase in consumption. As a result, the line minister Sebastian Burduja announced that the government had decided to protect Romanians and support the competitiveness of Romanian companies. After the energy market was deregulated on January 1, 2021, Romania was among the European countries the most severely affected by record-high electricity and natural gas prices. Thanks to the government’s price capping decisions, households and businesses were protected from excessive prices.

     

    CORRUPTION A company and 2 individuals are prosecuted in a case handled by the Romanian National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), together with investigators from the US Department of Defence, the DNA announced today. The company owned by a Greek national has allegedly bribed a foreign official to get a EUR 9 mln contract to refuel aircraft at the NATO military base in Mihail Kogălniceanu. Two other individuals are suspected of complicity in continuing bribery in connection with an official of a foreign country.

     

    GERMANY Germany holds federal elections on Sunday that are crucial to the country’s future, as the far-right is on the rise and the economy is heading for a third year of recession. The vote comes after the coalition of the Social Democrats, Liberals and Greens led by the Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed late last year. According to polls, the Conservatives are expected to win. With the far-right in second place in the polls, however, analysts say that in order to govern, the Conservatives will have to reach a compromise with the Social Democrats or the Greens, overcoming their differences.

     

    FOOTBALL The Romanian football champions FCSB will face the French team Olympique Lyon in the Europa League round of 16, according to Friday’s draw in Nyon, Switzerland. FCSB will play the first leg at home on March 6, with the return leg scheduled on March 13. FCSB qualified for the round of 16 of the Europa League after outplaying the Greek team PAOK Thessaloniki, coached by the Romanian Răzvan Lucescu. The aggregate score was 4-1, with the Romanians defeating the Greeks 2-1 in the first leg, and 2-0 in Bucharest on Thursday evening. (AMP)

  • February 16, 2025

    February 16, 2025

    Conference – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Emil Hurezeanu, on Saturday had meetings with his Dutch and Ukrainian counterparts on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference which ends on Sunday. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry (MAE), the Romanian FM and the Dutch official, Caspar Veldkamp, ​​addressed aspects of the bilateral agenda, given that this year Romania and the Netherlands are celebrating 145 years of diplomatic relations. A priority of the discussion was the investigation into the theft of the Dacian treasure pieces, which took place last month at the Drents Museum in Assen. The Dutch side gave assurances, once again, that all efforts are being made to recover the pieces, in close collaboration with the Romanian side. Also, Emil Hurezeanu had a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha. The two had an extensive review of the main themes concerning the Romanian-Ukrainian political and diplomatic dialogue, including the rights of persons belonging to national minorities. The Romanian minister reiterated Romania’s support for the independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, insisting on the legitimate right of the Ukrainian people to obtain a just and lasting peace with the direct involvement of Ukraine, as well as of the neighboring states with which it shares the same vision. Also on the sidelines of the Munich Conference, Emil Hurezeanu had meetings with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov, with the deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and expatriates from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Ayman Safadi, with the foreign minister of India, Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, with his Filipino counterpart, Enrique Manalo, as well as with his Serbian counterpart, Marko Djuric.

     

    Cooperation – Attending the conference in Munich, the Romanian Defense Minister, Angel Tîlvăr, met, on the sidelines of the Security Conference, with his counterparts from Albania, Pirro Vengu, and Bulgaria, Atanas Zaprianov. The discussions focused on strengthening regional cooperation in the field of defense and military mobility. One of the essential topics addressed during the talks was the Pan-European Military Mobility Corridor VIII, a strategic project in which Romania participates together with Albania, Bulgaria, Italy and North Macedonia. Angel Tîlvăr reiterated Romania’s commitment to facilitating the rapid transit of forces and military equipment in South-Eastern Europe, emphasizing the importance of reducing bureaucratic barriers and harmonizing critical infrastructure, the Romanian Defense Ministry (MApN) informed. The ministers also discussed the importance of strengthening NATO’s defense and deterrence posture in the Black Sea region. Angel Tîlvăr thanked his counterparts for the contribution to the multinational NATO structures deployed on the territory of Romania, highlighting that this cooperation demonstrates the solidarity and unity of the Alliance, MApN also said. Another critical issue of the discussions was the upcoming NATO Summit in The Hague, scheduled for the summer of this year.

     

    Corruption – The head of the Joint Logistics Command of the Romanian Army, three-star general Cătălin Ştefăniţă Zisu, was placed by prosecutors under judicial control on bail worth one million lei (approx. 200 thousand Euros), for abuse of office with particularly serious consequences, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) reports. The defendant must make the amount available for the DNA within seven days. The Defense Ministry proposed his urgent transfer to the reserve status. The prosecutors also indicted the reserve colonel Lucian Amorăriţei, for several crimes of forgery, use of forgery and abuse of office, and the businessman Ionel Olteanu. The investigators show that, between 2022-2023, the two military approved the settlement of the issued invoices, although they knew that part of the works at the Ghencea Military Cemetery, in Bucharest, had not actually been carried out. The damage is estimated at almost 12 million lei (approx. 2.4 million Euros).

     

    Motion – The opposition S.O.S. Romania party announced that it would submit to Parliament, on Monday, a censure motion against the Government led by the social democrat Marcel Ciolacu, a document also assumed by the opposition Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) and signed by 125 parliamentarians. The Save Romania Union (USR) also in opposition said that they would decide whether or not to support the initiative when the document is submitted to the vote. Instead, the governing coalition assures that the motion has no chance to pass. No Social Democratic MP will vote for the censure motion against the Ciolacu Government, says the vice president of the Chamber of Deputies, the social democrat Daniel Suciu. He added that this approach, initiated by the opposition, would endanger the stability of the country. The interim president of the National Liberal Party (PNL), Cătălin Predoiu, says that the liberals will defend the Government by vote. Also on Monday, the Education Minister, Daniel David, is expected at the Chamber of Deputies, at the Government Hour, at the request of the AUR. The AUR MPs criticize the measures proposed by the minister regarding the elimination of the mandatory character of the study of geography and history by high school students and demand that these subjects remain in the school curriculum as a basis for educating the new generations.

     

    Handball – SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea from Romania qualified for the quarter-finals of the EHF European League women’s handball competition, after defeating the German team BV Borussia Dortmund, score 32-27, on Saturday evening, at home, in Group B. After five stages, the team from Vâlcea remains the undefeated leader, with 9 points, followed in the ranking by Ikast Handbold from Denmark (6 p.), Borrusia (3p.) and Sola HK from Norway (2p.). In the last stage, SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea will play away from home with Ikast Handbold, on February 22. The group matches are played until February 23, and the top two teams qualify for the quarter-finals of the competition, scheduled for March 22nd and 23rd  and March 29th and 30th followed by the F4 Tournament, on May 3rd and 4th.

     

    Elections – Romania’s interim president, Ilie Bolojan, has given assurances that he will take all the necessary steps, within the limits of his powers, to organize free, fair and transparent elections. On Saturday, the interim president of the National Liberal Party (PNL), the interior minister Cătălin Predoiu, said that the Romanian state must do more to explain what happened in the presidential election last year and the reaction of the institutions to how the integrity and legality of the election were affected. The statement came after the US Vice President J.D. Vance said at the security conference in Munich that the decision to cancel the election in Romania was made based on “flimsy suspicions of an intelligence agency and enormous pressure from its continental neighbors.” Ilie Bolojan stated, on Saturday, at a meeting held in Bucharest with a delegation of the business environment from Romania, that he would make efforts to make Romanians regain trust in state institutions. (LS)

  • Corruption Perceptions Index 2024

    Corruption Perceptions Index 2024

    Romania continues to be among the EU countries with the worst results in combating corruption, according to Transparency International.

     

    Worrying for 2024 is the fact that the level of corruption globally is still very high, while efforts to combat this plague are decreasing, the non-governmental organization Transparency International reports. The lack of strong measures against corruption has serious repercussions globally in key areas, such as defending democracy, protecting the environment and combating climate change, and promoting and protecting human rights. According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2024, anti-corruption efforts in EU countries are stagnating or even declining, which contributes decisively to compromising the rule of law, circumventing access to justice and reducing public integrity. All of these aspects have a negative impact on citizens’ daily lives, whether we are referring to the poor quality of public services, exposure to corruption or the damage to the environment through illegal practices, Transparency International says.

     

    The EU has among the highest scores in the CPI ranking, which is based on data from 13 independent sources, including the World Bank and the World Economic Forum. In 2024, the average is 62 points, down 2 points from previous years. At the top of the ranking are Denmark (90 points), Finland (88 points) and Luxembourg (81 points). At EU level, the biggest decline in the last year was experienced by countries such as Germany (75 points, minus 3 points compared to 2023), Austria and France (67 points, minus 4 points compared to 2023), Slovakia (49 points, minus 5 points compared to 2023) and Malta (46 points, minus 5 points compared to 2023).

     

    Although it is among the few countries that have remained with a stable score in the CPI ranking, Romania is well below the EU average. For the third year in a row, it is among the countries with the ‘worst’ results in combating corruption, with 46 points out of 100, the same as Malta.

     

    Transparency International Romania emphasizes the importance of cooperation between all societal actors, from academia, public institutions and the political class, to the private sector and civil society. At the same time, their constant involvement in the formation of an upstanding society is essential, each having its role and responsibility in combating corruption. At the national level, Transparency International Romania recommends measures such as improving awareness among citizens regarding the importance of applying the Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers in the Public Interest, updating the legislation in the field of public integrity, the government’s commitment to an anti-corruption program that would lift Romania in the CPI ranking to a score of at least 50 points by 2027, and the development of non-formal and informal education programs dedicated to pupils and students.

     

  • February 12, 2025

    February 12, 2025

    Ceremony – Romania’s outgoing president, Klaus Iohannis, ended his mandate on Wednesday at noon in a ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Bucharest after impeachment pressure over cancelled presidential vote. He had already announced his resignation on Monday. The two mandates to which Klaus Iohannis was entitled should have ended on December 21 last year, but he remained in office after the Constitutional Court annulled the presidential election due to suspicions regarding interference of state actors. Dissatisfied with the decision of the constitutional court judges, tens of thousands of Romanians protested in the streets. Political analysts believe that, with the resignation of Klaus Iohannis, the tensions in society accumulated in the last months will decrease. A 65-year-old ethnic German, former physics teacher and former mayor of the city of Sibiu (center), Klaus Iohannis leaves the presidency with an extremely low popularity rating. The interim president is, as of Wednesday, the speaker of the Senate, Ilie Bolojan, who previously self-suspended from the position of speaker of the Senate and president of the National Liberal Party (PNL). He will be interim president until May, when the presidential election is scheduled on the 4th and 18th respectively. He will have almost all the prerogatives of the head of state, with a few exceptions: he will not have the right to address Parliament, dissolve Parliament and organize a referendum.

     

    PNRR – The Romanian Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, is today chairing the meeting of the Inter-ministerial Committee for the Coordination of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, which will also be attended by the head of the European Commission’s Recovery and Resilience Task Force SG RECOVER, Celine Gauer. The two met on Tuesday, when Prime Minister Ciolacu stated that the Government will continue implementing the reforms and investments assumed through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) at a pace that will be accelerated at the level of each ministry. The PM also emphasized that the digitization measures taken by National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) improve the collection of public revenues, and the results will be felt in the coming years. At the same time, the reform of the central administration and the other solutions to reduce personnel expenses will lead to a more rigorous control of public resources and to a budget deficit target of 7% of the Gross Domestic Product in 2025, the prime minister added.

     

    Football – The Romanian football champions, FCSB (Bucharest), play, on Thursday, against the Greek champions, PAOK Thessaloniki, a team coached by the Romanian Răzvan Lucescu, in the first leg of the play-off for qualification for the Europa League round of 16. The return match will take place in Bucharest, on February 20. PAOK and FCSB faced each other this season also in the main phase of the competition, and the Romanian champions won the match in Thessaloniki with the score of 1-0. FCSB finished the main stage in 11th place and PAOK in 22nd. The first eight teams qualified directly for the round of 16, and the teams in positions 9-24 will play a double-leg play-off for access to the round of 16.

     

    AI – The European Union will invest 200 billion Euros in artificial intelligence projects – the head of the EU, Ursula von der Leyen, announced in Paris. Attending the international meeting in the French capital dedicated to this sector, the president of the European Commission also spoke about a public-private partnership for mobilizing the capital necessary to develop the new technologies. The Minister of Economy and Digitalization in the Romanian government, Bogdan Ivan, also attended the meeting, and said that Romania was ready to play its role in the projects that will define the future. ‘Romania has a lot of specialists and well-trained companies in the field, and last year it adopted a Strategy for Artificial Intelligence that makes it interoperable from the point of view of research with the most developed states in the world’ minister Ivan also told Radio Romania’s correspondent in Paris.

     

    Corruption – For the third year in a row Romania is among the EU countries with the ‘poorest’ results in combating corruption, obtaining a score of 46 points on a par with Malta, according to the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2024, published by the non-governmental organization Transparency International. Denmark (90 p.) leads the ranking, while on the last places are countries such as Somalia (9 p.), Venezuela (10 p.) and Syria (12 p.).  The CPI reflects how independent and business experts perceive corruption in the public sector in 180 states and territories. (LS)

  • February 11, 2025 UPDATE

    February 11, 2025 UPDATE

    RESIGNATION Romania’s outgoing president Klaus Iohannis is ending his mandate and Senate Speaker Ilie Bolojan will be taking over as interim president. Klaus Iohannis stepped down on Monday after a suspension procedure had been initiated against him in Parliament. On Tuesday the Constitutional Court took note of President Klaus Iohannis’ resignation and ruled that Senate Speaker Ilie Bolojan take over as interim president starting February 12. Bolojan had stepped down as president of the National Liberal Party (PNL). Klaus Iohannis served as president in two mandates and his last one was supposed to end in December 2024. However, the Constitutional Court ruled to cancel the first round of election in December due to interferences in the election process. Romania will have presidential election in two rounds, on May 4 and 18.

    TRADE The EU Polish presidency summoned the member states on Wednesday for talks over the effects and the response of the community bloc to the US decision to levy higher import taxes on all steel and aluminum entering the USA. According to our correspondent in Brussels, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen says the US decision will trigger a similar response from the EU. To similar decisions by president Trump in his first mandate, the EU responded by imposing taxes on a series of US products. The US taxes could trigger an inflow of steel and aluminum imports from the global market, and the oversupply could seriously affect the local producers, including from Romania.

    REAL ESTATE As of Tuesday ruling coalition MPs are holding public consultations in order to regulate protection measures addressing people who conclude sale-purchase deeds with real estate developers. Representatives of real estate developers, public notaries and the National Agency for Land Registry and Real Estate Advertising are also expected to take part. The goal is to complete the legal framework with regulations that will offer the end beneficiaries robust guarantees for the advances paid in real estate transactions and that will also ensure the development and proper functioning of the relevant market in Romania. The initiative comes after hundreds of people who got scammed in the Nordis case called for amending the relevant legislation. Former PSD deputy Laura Vicol, her husband, Vladimir Ciorbă, the main shareholder of the Nordis group, and three other people were put on pre-trial arrest as part of this investigation. The inquiry targets individuals and companies accused of having collected over 195 million EUROS from clients without handing over the apartments.

    112 The buildings of over 100 public and private institutions in Romania were lit in red on Tuesday, marking the European 112 Day. By means of a symbolic visual approach, the Special Telecommunications Service wants to draw attention to the instrumental role of the single emergency number and to encourage citizens to use it responsibly. Abusive emergency calls can jeopardize the swift intervention of specialized teams where it is needed the most, Service officials say. In 2024, as a result of the efforts of the relevant authorities and emergency response services, as well as other government partners and private telecommunications operators, the number of non-emergency calls decreased by nearly one million compared to previous years. 112 Emergency Service operators took over 9.7 million calls, of which 60.45% were actual emergencies, the Special Telecommunications Service also reports.

    (bill)

     

  • January 24, 2024

    January 24, 2024

    CELEBRATION Military and religious ceremonies, performances and exhibitions took place on Friday in all the major cities in Romania, marking the Union of the Principalities. In Orthodox churches, special services were performed and bells were rung for a minute. 166 years ago, on January 24, 1859, Alexandru Ioan Cuza was elected ruler of Wallachia, after having been elected ruler of Moldavia on January 5. The political decision by the principalities to unite was the first stage in the creation of the modern Romanian state. Leading politicians sent messages on the Day of the Union of the Romanian Principalities. “January 24 is a moment of assessment and reflection on the legacy of our ancestors and on the responsibility we have to preserve and promote it,” president Klaus Iohannis emphasised. PM Marcel Ciolacu pointed out that the Union is an example of how an important political project undertaken in accordance with the will of the people can become reality. Romanians enjoy an extended weekend on this occasion, as Union Day has been declared a public holiday. Many have chosen to spend it in mountain resorts.

     

    PROTEST Railway workers, reserve officers, police staff, miners, foresters, steelworkers, Bucharest Metro employees and pensioners Friday took part in a protest rally in front of the Government headquarters. People are unhappy with the government order that froze salary increases for many public sector personnel at the beginning of this year, and because public pensions are no longer adjusted to the inflation rate. According to Radio Romania, a trade union delegation had talks with government officials, but without results. A reorganisation of central public institutions and state-owned companies was also announced these days. According to PM Marcel Ciolacu, restructuring the public sector is a priority for the current governing coalition comprising the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania.

     

    DIPLOMACY The Romanian foreign minister Emil Hurezeanu will have a meeting with NATO’s secretary general Mark Rutte at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday, January 28, reads a statement from the North Atlantic Alliance. On January 14, Emil Hurezeanu received the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, James O’Brien. According to a foreign ministry news release, on that occasion the Romanian official appreciated the US contribution to the security and defense of NATO’s Eastern Flank, as well as to the development of the strategic approach to the Black Sea region. The two officials also appreciated the bilateral relationship, highlighting ‘significant’ achievements such as Romania’s inclusion in the Visa Waiver program, the development of economic and energy sector cooperation, and coordinated Romania – US – EU action.

     

    ELECTIONS The Liberals will convene on Sunday in a special National Council meeting to validate the former party president Crin Antonescu as the joint candidate of the ruling coalition in Romania in the presidential elections in May. The Social Democrats scheduled a special congress on February 2 for the same purpose, and UDMR will make its decision at the beginning of next week. The first and second rounds of the presidential elections are scheduled for May 4 and 18. So far, the mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, the independent candidate Călin Georgescu and the president of Save Romania Union, Elena Lasconi, have announced plans to run for president. The latter two were top placed in the presidential elections canceled last year. After the first election round on November 24 was validated, the Constitutional Court of Romania canceled the election as a whole on December 6, although voting in the second round had already begun abroad. The Court made its decision after the Supreme Defence Council published a report indicating foreign interference in the electoral process, but investigations have so far failed to confirm it. Tens of thousands of Romanians took to the streets to demand that the second round be resumed.

     

    CORRUPTION The mayor of the popular Romanian mountain resort of Sinaia, the Liberal Vlad Oprea, was placed under court supervision on Thursday, with bail set at over EUR 100,000, as part of a corruption-related investigation. Charges of abuse of office also entailed a ban on him holding the mayor position. According to prosecutors with the National Anticorruption Directorate, among other things, Vlad Oprea allegedly demanded and received almost EUR 240,000 in bribe from a businessman, in exchange for expediting the paperwork for the building of a hotel in the resort.

     

    EXPULSION The Romanian Embassy in Belgrade has asked for clarifications from the Serbian authorities as to why a Romanian national was expelled from the country. Other EU and third country citizens taking part in an NGO training workshop were also involved in the incident. The Romanian, a member of an organisation involved in social projects, was taken to a police station in Belgrade, along with other participants in the workshop. Without explanation, but citing national security reasons, they were ordered to leave Serbia within 24 hours, and banned from entering this country for one year. The Romanian national left the country safely. The expulsion of EU citizens from Serbia is unprecedented. (AMP)

  • January 24, 2025

    January 24, 2025

    CELEBRATION Military and religious ceremonies, performances and exhibitions are taking place today in all the major cities in Romania, marking the Union of the Principalities. In Orthodox churches, special services were performed and bells were rung for a minute. 166 years ago, on January 24, 1859, Alexandru Ioan Cuza was elected ruler of Wallachia, after having been elected ruler of Moldavia on January 5. The political decision of the principalities to unite was the first stage in the creation of the modern Romanian state. Leading politicians sent messages on the Day of the Union of the Romanian Principalities. “January 24 is a moment of assessment and reflection on the legacy of our ancestors and on the responsibility we have to preserve and promote it,” president Klaus Iohannis emphasised. PM Marcel Ciolacu pointed out that the Union is an example of how an important political project undertaken in accordance with the will of the people can become reality. Romanians enjoy an extended weekend on this occasion, as Union Day has been declared a public holiday. Many have chosen to spend it in mountain resorts. However, as protests are announced in addition to many events planned throughout the country, over 22,000 interior ministry employees are mobilised to ensure public order and peace.

     

    PROTEST Railway workers, reserve officers, police staff, miners, foresters, steelworkers, Bucharest Metro employees and pensioners announced their participation today in a protest rally in front of the Government headquarters. Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend. People are unhappy with the government order that froze salary increases at the beginning of this year, and because public pensions are no longer adjusted to the inflation rate. A reorganisation of central public institutions and state-owned companies was also announced these days. According to PM Marcel Ciolacu, restructuring the public sector is a priority for the current governing coalition comprising the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania.

     

    ELECTIONS The Liberals will convene on Sunday in a special National Council meeting to validate the former party president Crin Antonescu as the joint candidate of the ruling coalition in Romania in the presidential elections in May. The Social Democrats scheduled a special congress on February 2 for the same purpose, and UDMR will make its decision at the beginning of next week. The first and second rounds of the presidential elections are scheduled for May 4 and 18. So far, the mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, the independent candidate Călin Georgescu and the president of Save Romania Union, Elena Lasconi, have announced plans to run for president. The latter two were top placed in the presidential elections canceled last year. After the first election round on November 24 was validated, the Constitutional Court of Romania canceled the election as a whole on December 6, although voting in the second round had already begun abroad. The Court made its decision after the Supreme Defence Council published a report indicating foreign interference in the electoral process, but investigations have so far failed to confirm it. Tens of thousands of Romanians took to the streets to demand that the second round be resumed.

     

    CORRUPTION The mayor of the popular Romanian mountain resort of Sinaia, the Liberal Vlad Oprea, was placed under court supervision on Thursday, with bail set at over EUR 100,000, as part of a corruption-related investigation. Charges of abuse of office also entailed a ban on him holding the mayor position. According to prosecutors with the National Anticorruption Directorate, among other things, Vlad Oprea allegedly demanded and received almost EUR 240,000 in bribe from a businessman, in exchange for expediting the paperwork for the building of a hotel in the resort.

     

    EXPULSION The Romanian Embassy in Belgrade has asked for clarifications from the Serbian authorities as to why a Romanian national was expelled from the country. Other EU and third country citizens taking part in an NGO training workshop were also involved in the incident. The Romanian, a member of an organisation involved in social projects, was taken to a police station in Belgrade, along with other participants in the workshop. Without explanation, but citing national security reasons, they were ordered to leave Serbia within 24 hours, and banned from entering this country for one year. The Romanian national left the country safely. The expulsion of EU citizens from Serbia is unprecedented.

     

    FOOTBALL Romanian football champions FCSB defeated the Azerbaijani side Qarabag FK, 3-2 on Thursday evening in Baku, in the 7th round of the Europa League. With this important win, FCSB not only secured its ticket for the next stage of the competition, but also has a good chance of qualifying straight for the round of 16. On January 30, the Romanians will play in Bucharest against the English team Manchester United. (AMP)

  • January 23, 2025 UPDATE

    January 23, 2025 UPDATE

    A roundup of local and international news.

     

    CELEBRATION – The Romanian Ministry of National Defense and the local authorities will organize on Friday, January 24, in the garrisons where there are monuments dedicated to the Union of the Romanian Principalities, military and religious ceremonies dedicated to the celebration of the 166th anniversary of this historical event. In Bucharest, a military wreath laying ceremony will be held at the Statue of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza. Every year, on January 24, Romanians celebrate the Union of the Romanian Principalities that took place in 1859, under the leadership of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, an act of political will of the leaders of Moldavia and Wallachia, and the first step towards the creation of the modern Romanian unitary state.

     

    SECURITY – Over 22,000 employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will make sure that the events dedicated to the Union of the Romanian Principalities in the upcoming days unfold smoothly. Around 1,400 traffic police officers will be present on public roads, especially on those that are usually crowded during mini-holidays. Various activities will be organized throughout the country in approximately 130 locations, with an estimated participation of over 60,000 people.

     

    CORRUPTION – Vlad Oprea, the Liberal mayor of Sinaia, the most popular resort on the Prahova Valley (southern Romania), was detained on Thursday by prosecutors of the National Anticorruption Directorate, in a case in which he is suspected of corruption. According to the prosecutors, he claimed and received bribe of almost 240,000 Euros from a businessman, in order to facilitate the issuance of the necessary documentation for the construction of a hotel in the city. Oprea is also accused of having allowed the unauthorized activity of providing public catering services for a restaurant in Sinaia, between July 2019 and January 2024, in order to obtain undue benefits.

     

    PROTEST – Railway workers, reserve military, policemen, miners, foresters, steel workers or employees of the Bucharest Subway system are expected, on Friday, at a rally organized near the government offices, in protest at the new social and salary policies of the ruling coalition made up of the PSD-PNL-UDMR, the Federation of Railway Transporters’ Unions from Romania (FSTFR) have announced. The estimated number of participants in the protest is 30,000.

     

    RELEASE – The Romanian Foreign Ministry has announced that the Romanian crew member of the “Galaxy Leader” ship, released from Yemen, is safe and sound. The crew has been in captivity for more than a year after the Houthi rebel group captured the ship, at the start of a series of attacks on ships in the Red Sea, motivated by Israel’s war against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. The 25 sailors from the Philippines, Mexico, Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine were detained in November 2023 by Houthi fighters, who used a helicopter to board the cargo ship that started from Turkey, heading India. A Houthi-controlled Yemeni television station said the crew had been freed and handed over to Oman, following the completion of the Gaza ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel, which took effect on Sunday. The release comes after months of diplomatic work involving the sailors’ home countries, as well as the UN’s International Maritime Organization. The Romanian Foreign Ministry specifies that the action is the result of the efforts of the Foreign Intelligence Service and the other institutions within the crisis cell. The Romanian authorities also thank the external partners, especially the Sultanate of Oman and the neighboring Bulgaria, for the important support given to solving this complex and extremely difficult case.

     

    REORGANISATION – The reorganization of central public institutions and of state-owned companies in Romania, with a view to reducing budget expenses, has created  discontent among the employees. Several ministries have already announced reorganizations and the reduction of the number of employees. The Parliament leadership also announced the reduction of civil servant positions by approximately 400, which led to a spontaneous protest by the employees.

     

    REPORT – The vice-president of the European Parliament, the Romanian social democrat Victor Negrescu, says that the European Comission will present, in a relatively short time, a report on foreign interference in the presidential election in Romania, through the Chinese network TikTok. The European Commission can make specific recommendations or impose fines on the network, Negrescu explained. He also said that the Vice-President of the Commission for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, spoke about the possibility that all social networks, not just TikTok, which interfere in democratic debates and elections, be subject to stricter control and sanctions if they violate the European legislation in the field.

     

     

     

  • January 23, 2025

    January 23, 2025

    Protest – Railway workers, reserve military, policemen, miners, foresters, steel workers or employees of the Bucharest Subway system are expected, on Friday, at a rally organized near the government headquarters, against the background of the dissatisfaction generated by the social and salary policies of the governing coalition made up of the PSD-PNL-UDMR, the Federation of Railway Transporters’ Unions from Romania (FSTFR) announces. It estimates the number of participants in the protest will stand at 30,000.

     

    Corruption – The mayor of Sinaia, the most popular resort on the Prahova Valley (southern Romania), the liberal Vlad Oprea, was brought to the headquarters of the National Anticorruption Directorate on Thursday, to be heard in a case. According to the prosecutors, he claimed and received bribe of almost 240,000 Euros from a businessman, in order to facilitate the issuance of the necessary documentation for the construction of a hotel in the city. Oprea is also accused that, between July 2019 and January 2024, he allowed the unauthorized activity of providing public catering services for a restaurant in Sinaia, in order to obtain undue benefits.

     

    Captivity – The Romanian Foreign Ministry announces that the Romanian sailor from the crew of the ship “Galaxy Leader”, freed from Yemen, is safe and sound. The crew has been in captivity for more than a year after the Houthi rebel group captured the ship, at the start of a series of attacks on ships in the Red Sea motivated by Israel’s war against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. The 25 sailors from the Philippines, Mexico, Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine were detained in November 2023 by Houthi fighters, who used a helicopter to board the cargo ship running between Turkey and India. A Houthi-controlled Yemeni television station said the crew had been freed and handed over to Oman, following the completion of the Gaza ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel, which took effect on Sunday. The release comes after months of diplomacy work involving the sailors’ home countries, as well as the UN’s International Maritime Organization. The Romanian Foreign Ministry specifies that the action is the result of the efforts of the Foreign Intelligence Service and the other institutions within the crisis cell. The Romanian authorities also thank the external partners, especially the Sultanate of Oman and neighboring Bulgaria, for the important support given to solving this complex and extremely difficult case.

     

    Football – The Romanian football champion, FCSB, from Bucharest, plays, this evening, away from home, in Baku, against the Azerbaijani team Qarabag FK, in the seventh stage of the Europa League. With two stages before the end of the main phase of the competition, FCSB is in 10thplace, with 11 points, and Qarabag is in 33rdplace, with 3 points. The first eight teams in the ranking will qualify for the round of 16, while the teams from 9th to the 24th positions will play a play-off to qualify for the round of 16. FCSB still is to play the famous English team Manchester United, at home, on January 30.

     

    Reorganization – The reorganization of central public institutions and of state-owned companies in Romania, with a view to reducing budget expenses, is dissatisfying more and more employees. Several ministries have already announced reorganizations and staff reductions. The Parliament leadership also announced the reduction of civil servant positions by approximately 400, which led to a spontaneous protest by the employees in the halls of the institution.

     

    Drones – A new disinformation by the Russian media, regarding last week’s drone attacks against the civilian port infrastructure in Ukraine, near the border with Romania, was denounced by the Romanian Ministry of National Defense. The Kremlin propaganda falsely claimed that the Russian attack drones targeted an operation to transport Romanian soldiers or Romanian mercenaries from the Romanian shore to the Ukrainian one. According to the phantasmagoric scenario, the forces of the Romanian Army would have intervened in the unfolding of the events and would have opened fire on the Russian drones with equipment deployed on the Romanian territory. The alleged confrontation would have resulted in numerous victims on the Romanian side, dead and wounded. But all this did not happen, states the Romanian Defense Ministry. These “ungrounded aberrations”, as the Defense Ministry calls them, are part of the pattern of Russian operations to influence and manipulate public opinion in both the Romanian and NATO areas.

     

    TikTok – The vice-president of the European Parliament, the Romanian social democrat Victor Negrescu, states that the EC will present in a relatively short time its report on the interference, through the Chinese network TikTok, in the presidential election in Romania. The European Commission can come up with specific recommendations or impose a fine for that network – said the social democratic MEP. He added that the Vice-President of the Commission for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, spoke about the possibility that all social networks, not just TikTok, which intervene in democratic debates and elections, could be subject to stricter control and could be sanctioned if they violate the European legislation in the matter. (LS)

  • November 20, 2024

    November 20, 2024

    BONDS – Foreign investors are showing great interest in the Romgaz bond issue, according to the company’s CEO Răzvan Popescu. He says the money raised from the listing on the Bucharest Stock Exchange will be used for the company’s investment program, especially the strategic Neptun Deep project in the Black Sea. Romgaz, the largest producer and main supplier of natural gas in Romania, listed its first international corporate bond issue on the Bucharest Stock Exchange on Tuesday, worth 500 million euros. The bonds are also listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

     

    INVESTIGATION – Prosecutors with the Cluj-Napoca office of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office are investigating a possible fraud involving European funds, with an estimated damage of 2 million euros. The case involves three projects to modernize a vegetable farm in Maramureş (north). The prosecutors’ suspicions concern the use of false, incorrect or incomplete documents in order to obtain EU funds for the purchase of a tomato sorting and packaging facility and for the installation of photovoltaic panels. According to the investigation, the suspects allegedly forged documents and signatures in order to mislead the authorities. On Tuesday, searches were carried out at the home of a person and at the headquarters of companies targeted by this case.

     

    CYBERSECURITY – A new edition of the CyberCon Romania 2024 international conference, organised by the Romanian Association for Information Security Assurance jointly with the US Embassy in Romania, is sunder way in Bucharest. . The conference, a landmark event in the field of cybersecurity, is held at the European Commission Representation in Romania and brings together experts from the public, private and academic sectors. According to the organizers, among the topics addressed are: current challenges and trends in the field, maintaining resilience for a secure digital infrastructure, improving cooperation between the defense and civilian sectors, the evolution of cyber threats and innovative solutions to combat them, as well as recommended practices to unite cybersecurity and cybercrime prevention.

     

    PROTESTS – The Romanian Trade Unions Federation in Energy staged a protest in front of the Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity offices in Bucharest on Wednesday, on the topic of the new Pension Law, which entered into force on September 1. According to the trade unionists, the law endangers workers in the integrated nuclear field, because it increases the contribution period in their case and sets a minimum age threshold of 45 years for their retirement. Unionists want the contribution period and the retirement conditions for Level I and II of radiation exposure be maintained as stipulated by the previous Pension Law.

     

    DRONE – A new Russian drone has been found in the north of Chisinau, the capital of the Republic of Moldova, neighboring Ukraine invaded by Russian troops. According to the National Police, which reported the case, this is the fourth flying object observed on the territory of the Republic of Moldova in recent days. The drone was found on a plot of land located between a shopping centre and a stadium, by a citizen who alerted the authorities. On Sunday, the Moldovan authorities announced that two Russian missiles had entered the airspace of the Republic of Moldova. This is the first time that a Russian drone has been reported in the airspace of the capital of the Republic of Moldova.

     

    UKRAINE – A thousand days after the start of the Russian invasion, the European Parliament promises Ukraine that the EU will stand by it for as long as necessary. The leader in Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelensky, said that without European support, Ukraine would have been occupied by Russia. The EP held a plenary session in Brussels on Monday, and the European Defense Ministers held a meeting, to which NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was also invited.

  • THE WEEK IN REVIEW

    THE WEEK IN REVIEW

    Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, at the European Council meeting in Brussels

    The leaders of the EU countries, including the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, met in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to discuss topics such as Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East, EU competitiveness, migration and foreign affairs. Also on the agenda was the European Union’s support signal, which it must give at the highest level for the Republic of Moldova, in the context of the upcoming elections and the referendum through which the population is asked if they want to join the EU. It is one of the points for which Romania insisted on appearing both in the debate and in the final declaration of the summit. A second element that Romania insisted on is the one in which the European leaders ask the European Commission to analyze the reasons why energy prices in Eastern and Southern Europe tend to be higher than those in the rest of the EU bloc. One of the problems would be the poor interconnectivity of the market and the blockage that occurs in the central region of Europe. Thus, countries like Romania cannot take advantage of the moments when the European market offers better prices. Migration, however, was a hot topic, given that the phenomenon continues to put pressure on the EU borders. On Wednesday, President Iohannis participated in the European Union – Gulf Cooperation Council Summit, held in Brussels. This first edition of the Summit represented a defining moment for the consolidation of the Strategic Partnership between the two regions and laid the foundations for in-depth cooperation in the upcoming period. The joint partnership focuses on the security, sustainable development and prosperity of the two regions, by stimulating bilateral trade and investments, energy cooperation and combating climate change and also on increased connectivity, including in the digital field and interpersonal contacts. Iohannis, pleaded for the updating and expansion of the contractual framework in the field of trade and investments, also supporting steps for visa liberalization. Romania is interested in improving connectivity between the two regions, through the development and expansion of some projects, such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor and under the umbrella of the Global Gateway, which would allow for a more efficient joint use of new technologies, energy sources and critical materials.

    The European Commission provisionally approved Romania’s third payment request for PNRR

    The European Commission has provisionally approved Romania’s third payment request for the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, but expects to receive additional information from the Bucharest Government, within a month, in order to make the full payment. According to the European Commission’s assessment, Romania has met only 62 of the 68 reform or investment milestones, which is why they propose the partial suspension of the payment until additional clarifications are provided. If they are considered sufficient, the Commission will make the full payment of the two billion euros. If not, the European Commission will make a partial payment to Romania, and our country will have a second period, this time of six months, to meet the outstanding milestones. The European Commission is going to say exactly the amount that will not be transferred to Bucharest from the payment request, in the amount of 2,700,000,000 euros. The Minister of Investments and European Projects, Adrian Câciu, said that the Government is already working to fulfill all the requests. Among the milestones achieved are the stimulation of energy efficiency in industry, the reform of the public pension system and investments to improve the energy efficiency of the existing building stock.

    Romanian politicians under corruption charges

    On Thursday, anti-graft prosecutors began to search the office of MP Nelu Tătaru, at the Municipal Hospital in Huşi (east), where he works as a surgeon. The searches take place after, at the beginning of the week, the Chamber of Deputies partially lifted the immunity of the former minister, accused of taking bribes from patients this year. Nelu Tătaru says that he is not guilty and that he has never conditioned the medical act on receiving material benefits. The former Minister of Health was stripped of all his political positions and was excluded from the lists for the parliamentary elections. On Wednesday, the Permanent Bureau of the Romanian Senate, during an online meeting, decided that the request to lift the parliamentary immunity of senator Eugen Pîrvulescu should be sent to the Legal Commission for the preparation of a report, and that it should be submitted to the vote of the plenary on Monday, October 21. Last week, Senator Eugen Pîrvulescu was placed under criminal investigation  in a case in which he is accused of instigation to influence peddling.

    Victories for Romania in international football competitions

    Romania’s youth team qualified for the 2025 European Under-21 Football Championship, after defeating Switzerland 3-1, on Tuesday evening, in Bucharest, in the last match of Group E of the preliminaries. The Romanians thus secured their fourth consecutive presence at an U-21 final tournament. Also on Tuesday evening, the Romanian national football squad defeated the Lithuanian team, 2-1, in Kaunas, in the Nations League C League (Group 2). It is the fourth victory of the Romanians in this tour, after the ones against Lithuania at home, Cyprus and Kosovo. Romania leads the group with 12 points. The Nations League will also have a direct effect on the European preliminaries for the 2026 World Cup.

  • October 17, 2024

    October 17, 2024

    A roundup of local and international news.

     

    CORRUPTION – Anti-graft prosecutors have today searched the office of the former Minister of Health Nelu Tătaru, in the Huşi Municipal Hospital in eastern Romania, where he works as a surgeon. Last week, Tătaru,  who is a Liberal MP representing the county of Vaslui, was put under criminal investigation in a case in which he is accused of having received as bribe, from his patients, sums of money between 20 and 100 euros, as well as foodstuffs. Tătaru claims he is innocent.

     

    WAGE – The minimum wage in Romania will be 810 euros starting January 2025, the Bucharest government and the social partners, who got together in the Tripartite National Committee, decided on Wednesday. Thus, according to Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, Romania is entering the path of the European minimum wage. We comply with the directive according to which the minimum level must be somewhere between 47% and 52% of the European minimum wage, Ciolacu explained.

     

    DEFENSE – The Romanian Minister of National Defense, Angel Tîlvăr, is participating, on October 17 and 18, in the meeting of the NATO defense ministers, taking place in Brussels. The meeting’s agenda includes topics of importance for the Alliance, in order to implement the decisions adopted by the heads of state and government at the NATO Summit, which took place in Washington DC in July. The ministerial event includes three sessions of talks – one in allied format, dedicated to strengthening the allied deterrence and defense posture, one session in the format of the NATO-Ukraine Council, as well as another, for the first time, with partner states in the Indo-Pacific/IP4 region ( Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand). The Minister of Defense will also participate in the ministerial meeting of the Global Anti-ISIS Coalition.

     

    AID – The American President, Joe Biden, announced, on Wednesday, during a conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, a new military aid for Ukraine worth 425 million dollars which includes additional air defense capabilities, France Presse reports. Biden spoke with Zelenskiy about his efforts to increase military aid to Ukraine until the end of his term in January 2025. Since the start of the war in 2022, the United States has approved about $175 billion in economic or military aid for Ukraine. Joe Biden will be in Germany as of Friday for one of his last visits as American President, during which he will discuss the situation in Ukraine.

     

    COUNCIL – Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, is participating, for two days, in Brussels, at the European Council meeting, which has on the agenda topics such as Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East, EU competitiveness, migration, foreign affairs, as well as the Republic of Moldova. European leaders will discuss the latest developments in Russia’s war of aggression, as well as multidimensional support for Ukraine. Regarding the Middle East, the ‘alarming’ situation and the ‘risks of escalation of violence in the region’ will be discussed. At Romania’s proposal, the agenda of the meeting will also include discussions about the situation in the Republic of Moldova, as well as about support for its accession to the European Union, especially for supporting internal reforms and for strengthening resilience and stability. In the perspective of the upcoming elections and the referendum on the European integration of the Republic of Moldova, the issue of Russian interference in the election process will also be discussed. On Wednesday, the first EU – Gulf Cooperation Council Summit took place, aimed at strengthening the political and economic partnership between the Union and the member states of this structure, in a difficult geopolitical context.

     

    TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player Ana Bogdan qualified for the quarter-finals of the WTA tournament in Osaka (Japan), after defeating the Czech Marie Bouzkova in two sets. In the quarters, Bogdan will face the Dutch Suzan Lamens. Another player from Romania, Jaqueline Cristian, is today up against the Czech Karolina Muchova, in the round of 16 of the WTA  tournament in Ningbo (China).

     

     

  • Zero Tolerance for Migrant Smugglers

    Zero Tolerance for Migrant Smugglers

    Former or current employees of Romania’s Interior Ministry are suspected of being part of an organized crime ring of migrant smugglers.

    DIICOT and DNA prosecutors on Tuesday conducted a series of searches at company headquarters and houses. According to the authorities, the aforementioned crime ring was made up of tens of people, Romanian and foreign citizens, who reportedly smuggled illegal migrants into the country by issuing labour permits and who eventually helped these people to make it to countries in the Schengen Zone.

    Part of these migrants left Romania without even making contact with the recruitment agencies. Most of these migrants came from countries with terrorist potential, such as Pakistan or Bangladesh. According to the prosecutors, the employees of the General Inspectorate for Immigration would have taken bribes up to one thousand Euros in order to approve their working permits and for shorter periods bribes could reach a couple of thousands Euros.

    In a communiqué, the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI) explains that it has shunned any illegal activity and has promptly notified the prosecutors on any potential irregularities in the institution’s good functioning.

    According to the aforementioned institution, 50 suchlike operations involving over 500 policemen including high-ranking police officers have been staged this year so far.

    The IGI has also mentioned that jointly with officers from the General Anti-corruption Directorate has constantly provided counseling and staged various corruption-prevention activities at the level of all subordinated structures.

    This is what Romanian citizens and Romania’s foreign partners are expecting against the efforts of joining the Schengen zone, Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu says.

    “This is what we expect from other European partners from the EU member countries, which have been subjected to pressure from illegal migration, zero tolerance for corruption in all Europe, an effective way of combating illegal migration in all European countries’, Predoiu went on to say

    According to a field ministry communiqué, illegal migration at Romania’s borders went down by 73% in the past year alone. Predoiu says the ministry he leads is reiterating its commitment to transparency, integrity and international cooperation for ensuring security and stability at Romania’s borders, thus contributing to the country’s objective of integrating into the Schengen zone

    We recall that on March 31, Romania and Bulgaria were partly allowed to enter the Schengen zone only with their air and maritime borders. The Romanian authorities are carrying on efforts to achieve the country’s full accession to Schengen, which also involves its terrestrial borders.

    (bill)

  • June 4, 2024

    June 4, 2024

     

    INVESTIGATION Scores of house search warrants are enforced today by the Organised Crime Service of the Romanian police and by prosecutors with the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism Offences (DIICOT), as part of a criminal investigation into organised crime and migrant smuggling, the illegal crossing of Romania’s state borders, facilitating illegal stay in Romania and money laundering. The searches are conducted in the west and centre of the country and in Bucharest. An organised crime group is probed into for illegally obtaining work permits for nearly 1,200 foreign nationals, mostly from Pakistan and Bangladesh. DIICOT prosecutors are working together with anti-corruption prosecutors who are investigating corruption-related offences. A former interior ministry employee allegedly initiated and formed an organised crime group using several companies, with one of the group’s operations involving former and current interior ministry staff. The migrants reportedly paid EUR 500 to 1,000 for a work permit, and the group would collect as much as EUR 5,000-6,000 per person to expedite procedures.

     

    BANKING The foreign currency reserves of the National Bank of Romania exceeded EUR 65 bln at the end of May, up 4.1% compared to the previous month. According to the central bank, Romania’s international reserves (foreign currency plus gold) are currently around EUR 72.2 bln.

     

    DEFENCE The Romanian defence minister, Angel Tîlvăr had a meeting on Monday with the interim chief of the European Commission representation in Romania, Mara Roman, on which occasion he pointed out that the EU’s strategic approach to the Black Sea region must include support for the countries in the region, which are facing hybrid threats and the spill-over of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. According to the defence ministry, Angel Tilvar highlighted the support provided by Romania to Ukraine and to the Republic of Moldova. The participants also emphasised the increasingly important role played by the European Commission in supporting EU member states in the defence and security area, and the need to further develop the relations between the EU and NATO.

     

    TEACHERS In Romania, students, teachers and other education staff will have a day off on Wednesday, to celebrate Teachers’ Day. This day is marked every year on June 5, the birthday of the great professor Gheorghe Lazăr, the founder of Romanian modern education. Summer break begins on Friday, June 21.

     

    ATTACK The Syrian national who Monday threw a Molotov cocktail at the entrance of the Israeli Embassy building in Bucharest was arrested. The police say the attack was caused by personal grievances related to his visa application, and not by the Israeli operations in Gaza. The Ambassador of Israel to Bucharest, Reuven Azar, described the incident as a terror attack and praised the prompt response of the Romanian police.

     

    FOOTBALL Romania’s national football team is playing Bulgaria tonight and Liechtenstein on Friday, June 7, in two friendly matches ahead of the European Championship due to kick off on June 14 in Germany. Bucharest will host both matches. Romania was drawn in Group E alongside Ukraine, Belgium and Slovakia. The national team will play Ukraine on June 17 in Munich, Belgium on June 22 in Cologne, and finally Slovakia on June 26, in Frankfurt. Romania last took part in a European Championship in 2016 in France. (AMP)